Musings & Rants by Tim Byrd

Monthly Archives: February 2004

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It’s interesting that the investigation of matters related to 9/11 has become such a partisan issue in Washington. First, the Bush White House stone-walled for months, refusing to cooperate with the investigative panel (which should raise eyebrows even among the Australopitheci of the right), then they wanted to shut down the commission soon, well before the election, then grudgingly they allowed that a bit more time could be allowed…tossing the ball into Dennis Hastert’s hands to continue the game of keep-away in Congress. So Hastert plants his feet that the commission must stop its investigation with no extension to deadline…

Remember that the extension is needed primarily because of the stone-walling of the Bushies in the first place…

And finally Hastert has to grudgingly go along with an extension, because, hey, go figure, the public actually seems to agree with the Democrats and want an actual investigation into what happened on 9/11 and exactly who screwed up beforehand.

You’d almost think Bush doesn’t want people to know about something, wouldn’t you?

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Look at the comment someone posted under the entry below regarding Firefly.

It’s a grass-roots ad for Mel Gibson’s Jesus flick, and against those who are protesting it for its alleged anti-semitism.

It’s bald-faced and has the sort of subtlety we love in our Christian fanatics.

Normally, I’d delete it, since it’s got absolutely nothing to do with anything I’ve discussed on the blog (though I’ve been mulling a comment about Gibson and his flick), but I find it an amusing enough piece of spam I’m going to leave it. The fact that I’m already somehow getting spam on here is actually a positive sign that somebody is reading.

And, Kyle…as far as Gibson’s Jesus movie is concerned, I can only go on what I’ve heard from all the parties so loudly shouting about it, and I have this to say:

It sounds like a brilliant piece of work.

It sounds like as dedicated a bit of proselytizing as a Lani Riefenstahl flick.

It sounds like an unrelenting bath in extreme violence, and I’m fine with that, since it’s in context, but I don’t particularly want to sit through it.

It sounds likely that it really is anti-semitic, considering the brand of Catholicism practiced by the Gibson clan.

I’ve always really like Mel Gibson and had a lot of respect for him, but he seems to be going off the deep end. His saying he wanted that reporter’s intestines on a stick and wants to kill the man’s dog didn’t give me confidence he was approaching this topic in a rational manner.

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Things are crappy on the Angel front, but Joss Whedon’s brilliant Firefly is still flying, in spite of having been canceled by Fox before it even completed its first season. First, a really fine set of DVDs collecting all fifteen existing episodes and cool extras came out (mandatory viewing if you have a brain), and then reports were that Universal had wisely bought the rights and hired Joss to write and direct a Firefly feature film for theatrical release.

Recent developments on that front are very promising.

First, Joss has reportedly finished a script. One more finished piece of writing by Joss Whedon in the world is always a good thing.

Then, back on the 17th, a poster on one of the sites tracking Firefly matters had this to say:

This weekend through professional contacts at a trade show, I was able to spend an hour or so with someone who does licensing for Universal.

I brought up the movie project rather slyly, and this is what she said:

1. Definitely in the works.

2. First film meeting was last week.

3. Working title is “Serenity.” (“That’s the name of the ship,” she said.) :-)

4. They are “very excited to be working with Joss Whedon.”

The latest is that not only is Serenity now actually listed on the “Coming Soon” list at Universal’s web site (along with Peter Jackson’s King Kong), Universal has registered the web domain name “serenitymovie.com.”

So, The WB and Fox may be full of fuckwits, but there are still at least a few folks out in L.A. with some class and brains.

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The actor who plays Jesus in Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of Christ has escaped injury after being struck by lightning during filming.

The incident, in which The Rock and The Count of Monte Cristo star Jim Caviezel did not sustain an injury, is the second bolt to hit the set of the movie in Italy.

The film has drawn complaints from religious leaders. Jewish leaders say it suggests Jews were responsible for Christ’s death. Conservative Catholics who have seen the film have called it a powerful rendering of the hours leading up to Christ’s Crucifixion.

The crew was on a remote location a few hours from Rome when the storm occurred.

“I’m about a hundred feet away from them,” producer Steve McEveety said, “when I glance over and see lightning coming out of Caviezel’s ears.”

Both Caviezel and his assistant director Michelini were struck. The main bolt hit Caviezel and one of its forks hit Michelini’s umbrella.

Neither of the men sustained injuries in the incident.

Michelini has been nicknamed Lightning Boy after being struck twice by lightning during the filming in Italy. He had already suffered light burns on the tips of his fingers in an earlier incident during filming on a hilltop in the town of Matera.

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Sure. Why not? They certainly can’t mess it up any worse than straight folks have.

If the only reasoning someone can offer me that they shouldn’t have this right is based on The Bible and/or a personal gag reflex, I can’t give their argument much credit.

On the other hand, I think that gays are dumb-asses for having the battle now, when Bush and the religious right will be able to maximize the effect the issue will have in the next election. Believe me, Karl Rove is freakin’ elated that San Francisco is doing this mass wedding stuff. It’s scaring the rubes, making ’em worry about looking West lest they turn to pillars of salt, and it will get them out in force to vote against whichever Democrat faces Bush in November.

It’s another Nader-esque thing. Ralph Nader is a smart man, and most of what he says is at least close to correct. He wants to be a force against corporate corruption, and gods know we need some more forces like that. So what does he do? He helps derail Gore and hands the freaking country to the corporate interests (not to mention anti-civil rights and pro-religious fascism interests) in a shiny gilt gift bag.

So some gays get to publicly show their commitment, even though it’s gonna be legally moot because the system’s not changing, and their marriages won’t be recognized. HURRAY!

Karl Rove strokes his little kitty, chuckling his evil laugh, and sees that though things aren’t going well for his boy overall at the moment, they’re starting to look up, oh yes indeed…

Then he falls asleep and dreams about that time he fellated Dick Chaney in the Oval Office…

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Well, I knew Gov. Bush was in trouble with the libertarian and fiscal responsibility conservatives, but apparently his problems are deeper than that. This is from the Washington Times (itself a far-right rag, owned by Republican power-broker Sun Myung-Moon):

“It’s not just economic conservatives upset by runaway federal spending that he’s having trouble with. I think his biggest problem will be social conservatives who are not motivated to work for the ticket and to ensure their fellow Christians get to the polling booth,” said Robert H. Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute.

From here, it looks as if Bush is willing to sacrifice some of his less fundie base in order to kowtow more effectively to the Halliburtons and Enrons of the world (knowing how much money that’ll net his campaign, currently more than half a million bucks a day), but he is taking the Christian conservatives for granted, because, hey, he’s their boy, right? And where else are they gonna go?

Possibly no further than the kitchen for another can o’ Buttwiper, it seems.

There are even rumours floating about that ex-Judge Roy Moore of Ally-bammy is considering a third party run, and a lot of these folks would swarm to a man like Moore because he’s 100% as bat-shit-bozo as they are, and they (like many a Naderite) lack the common sense to see that their man can’t win.

I’m sure we’ll see quite a bit of Rovian pandering in the months ahead to try to buff these folks up.

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TIM BYRD

The author of the Doc Wilde adventure series, Tim is often barefoot, prone to irony, and interested in everything. He has been a soldier, game designer, independent filmmaker, and outdoor guide. He knows how to tie a tie, but doesn't care to.